Iungsdalshytta, day 4
| Date | Trip |
| 26.06.26 | To Iungsdalshytta |
| 27.06.26 | Stolsbergi, Skorpa |
| 28.06.26 | Fødalsbrea, Toviknuten, Djupsnuten |
| 29.06.26 | Halldalsnuten, Iungsdalsnuten |
| 30.06.26 | Reineskarvet |
| Date | Peak | Height | PF | Location | WCP/FP | MAP |
| 29.06.26 | Halldalsnuten | 1764m | 310m | Ål, Norway | – | MAP |
| 29.06.26 | Iungsdalsnuten | 1479m | 45m | Hol, Norway | – | MAP |
Monday: On our last full day at Iungsdalshytta, we had yet another strenuous hike ahead of us – Halldalsnuten. As such, breakfast was an important activity, as this was the moment we would build strengths for the hike.
Again, we headed into Fødalen, but this on the opposite side of the river, versus the hike the day before.
The plan was to hike up along a snow field near Iungsdalsnuten. The route looked trivial, and it was.
When we got onto the mountain, we discussed where to go next. We agreed to bypass the mountains ahead of us.
The weather was gorgeous, but we didn’t expect it to stay that way. We were in the mountains now and anything could happen.
It was a good idea to bypass the point 1662 – 1658 – 1633m mountain.
Having passed point 1633m, we got Galdenøse and Halldalsnuten in view.
We agreed to cross Galdenøse on the lowest ridge saddle. The high point was of no interest (prominence < 100m).
We had to ford the river, and it was a cold experience.
Once across the river, we looked forward to reaching Halldalsnuten. But first, we had to cross Galdenøse.
After a short break, we moved on.
On Galdenøse, we had Halldalsnuten in plain view.
We had another river crossing to do, but thanks to a snow bridge, this one was quite easy.
We were in rocky terrain and while not difficult, route-finding was an ongoing activity.
The big question was – would the weather hold up? There was lot of things happening in the sky…
Finally, the summit felt close by.
The distance wasn’t the main challenge. If we got bad weather (like thunder and lightning), we had two mountains to cross (or curve around) before we could begin on our descent back to Iungsdalshytta. But we hoped for the best.
And then we were up!
We felt we had put in a good deal of work for this top.
We hadn’t eaten yet, and we found shelter behind the cairn. In the evening, Jarle told us that this cairn used to be HUGE, but after a storm, it collapsed. None of us noticed that this wasn’t just another ordinary big cairn.
The weather further north didn’t look good. I felt an urgent need to get off the mountain.
But should we return the way we came, or descend via Søre Halldalen? I went over to the cliffs and had a look down. Doable, but complex because of steep snow. And then there was a waterfall where the route was unclear.
My suggestion was that we should return the way we came, and Anne agreed.
We took the same snow bridge…
On our way down from Galdenøse, we found it practical to hike on the other side of lake 1560m, to avoid the river crossing.
It wasn’t much of a detour, really…
We had our lunch break above lake Systrandtjørne. We were both hungry but also relaxed now that there were no more mountains to cross, in case of bad weather.
At the foot of the 1633 m summit, we found a reindeer antler—likely from the herd that was culled during the winter of 2017–2018, when the entire wild reindeer population (more than 2,000 animals) in Nordfjella Zone 1 was eradicated to stop an outbreak of the deadly and contagious disease chronic wasting disease (CWD).
The weather seemed stable here, and I wanted to pay Iungsdalsnuten a visit. Anne was not interested and began her descent while I claimed another top – with a modest prominence of 45m.
I caught up with Anne before reaching Fødalen and we returned to Iungsdalshytta together. The cabin was “full of life” due to DNT’s “Barnas Turlag” – the children’s hiking program of the Norwegian Trekking Association (DNT).”
A bunch of children in the age 5 to 12, with daytime activities, running around in the corridors before dinner, behaving very discreet during dinner (eating what the grown-ups were eating) and sleeping like logs from 9pm.
We didn’t sleep too bad ourselves, after yet another long and good hike.
Trip statistics: 17,2km, 1000 vertical meters, 6h:47m
